Hampshire Constabulary Team Triumph in London to Paris Triathlon
| Published: 5th September 2008 13:53 |
Police officers from Hampshire Constabulary have undertaken a gruelling triathlon to help raise money for the Naomi House children's hospice.
The event, which ran on Friday, August 29 through to Sunday, August 31, was put on to raise money needed to build a new wing at the hospice, with a target of £10,000.
The nine strong ‘Arch to Arc' triathlon team consisted of Sergeant Mike Sizer-Green, who masterminded the project, PC Gemma Sizer-Green, PC Mark Little, Senior Analyst Holly Crane and Chief Inspector Steve Wallace, Borough Commander of Fareham.
The crucial support team were PC Steven Goodall, Detention Officer Mark Hawley, PC Kevin Kitcher - who recently retired from the force - and PC Simon Goddard, who managed the two support vehicles.
Chief Inspector Wallace said:
"This challenge was never meant to be easy, and with so many external factors involved there were many risks.
"The planning and raising of sponsorship was hard work - especially given the hard economic times we're currently in - but the final results made it all worthwhile."
The team met at 3am at Netley Police Training Headquarters, and travelled up to Marble Arch in London for the start of the event, with the butterflies settling as the team set off on the 80 mile run at 6.12am.
The plan was to have two runners out at any time and that tough routine was soon set. The team made good progress tackling the rolling hills of south eastern England, entering Dover in the early evening after covering about 35 miles (or 56 kilometres - well over marathon distance).
After a roadside pasta meal and kit check, the team set off on their support boat, the Sea Venture 2, at about 10pm on Saturday, August 30, to begin the swimming leg of the event.
The swim started off at night to get the right tide but the strong currents, fatigue, sickness and the cold night air soon hampered early progress.
Chief Inspector Wallace said:
"After swimming one third across in relay (about 6.5 miles) we reluctantly decided that we could not continue due to safety reasons and we made the difficult decision to end the swim there, knowing that we could make up for it later in the event."
After a brief four hour sleep in one room, it was on the early ferry and the trip to Calais in France to undertake the final part of the triathlon - the cycling.
The team decided to all do the cycling together to make up for having to reduce the distance of the swim.
The weather was kind and progress was good at about 24 kilometres an hour.
There was an overnight stop at a motel along the way, with the ride resuming at 6.30am on the Sunday morning.
Progress was again good across the rolling and picturesque French landscape and all had cycled about 260 kilometres as they arrived in Paris on Sunday, August 31 at 4.30pm.
Chief Inspector Wallace said: "A small party of Holly Cranes' friends were there to see us home, which was fantastic.
"Ironically, the French police pounced as we moved towards the Arc de Triomphe as there are no bicycles allowed in that area.
"We were all extremely tired, but very proud that we'd accomplished what we'd set out to do. We all looked forward to getting back to England and having a long sleep!"
On Tuesday, September 2, the team regrouped to make up the distance lost during the swim, and they swam three miles between Boscombe Pier and Bournemouth Pier, which made up the full amount of miles.
After last minute negotiations before the trip, the target total of £10,000 for Naomi House was reached.
Sergeant Mike Sizer-Green, who masterminded the ambitious plan, said: "We are really proud of the team's achievement and the massive amount raised for Naomi House.
"We knew this would be really tough at times but the team worked amazingly well. Considering we only came together as a team for the event on the day everything went better than I anticipated."
Holly Crane said: "This was a brilliant challenge which pushed everyone to achieve their goals. It was great to be part of such a fantastic team and to raise so much money.
"It is testimony to all that we were in the water again on Tuesday morning to complete the mileage - we'd even recruited a couple of extra swimmers! Roll on the next one!"
The team are now back at their day jobs after the triathlon and can now reflect on their fantastic achievement.
Some statistics on the event:
- Sponsorship raised for Naomi House was a total of £10, 000
- 80 miles run from London to Dover, two runners at a time out of team of five. - 34 miles covered by each runner
- One third of the channel swim completed at 6.5 miles, and the remaining 14 miles completed on Tuesday, September 2, between Boscombe and Bournemouth piers
- 260 km cycled by each athlete
- Two hours sleep before setting off in the early hours at the start of the triathlon, then a total of ten hours sleep over the next three days
- Approximately 15, 000 calories burnt by each athlete and about 25 litres of liquid drunk!
The event could not have taken place without the following main sponsors:
- Cotswold Outdoor (Hedge End)
- Militarymedics.com
- Chicago Rock Café, Fareham
- The Police Federation
- Unison
- DHC Cyclesports
- Quadrant Catering
- Sainsburys, Fareham
- P&O Ferries
- Mercedes Benz
- Alphaplus Security
- G4S Recruitment
- Praills Opticians, Fareham
- Manpower
- BVT Fleet
What do you think?
You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.
